One of my biggest struggles with depression is that it drains me completely of any motivation or energy.

No matter how much I might want to do something, I just can’t seem to. I end up laying in bed all day, sometimes managing to read or watch something on Netflix; but usually I just end up staring into space for hours at a time.

And I hate it.

I’m one of those people who loves to be busy, to be up and doing things and feeling like I’ve accomplished a lot with my day; even as a kid I preferred learning something new or doing homework over playing.

Yes, I was a very unusual child!

So when I can’t get anything done, it makes me feel even worse and I end up in a cycle of having no motivation, feeling bad for not getting anything productive done, which then make me even more de-motivated.

It’s a cycle that is really easy to get stuck in, and one that can be very hard to break.

Get straight out of bed

As tempting as it is, try not to check your phone when you first wake up. I’ve found that if I just lie there for a long period of time scrolling through social media, any motivation I might have woken up with quickly goes away.

As part of my morning self care routine, I try and avoid checking my phone until I’ve had a stretch and got out of bed; I’ll usually respond to my texts and check the news while I’m making and eating my breakfast.

Get dressed

As tempting as it is to just lounge around in your pjs all day (especially if you’re self employed), it will do nothing for your motivation or mood. Getting dressed is a great way to show yourself and your brain that you have things to do, and help differentiate between working and sleeping/relaxing.

It’s the same as when people say you shouldn’t work from your bed; that’s the place that your brain associates with sleeping and it automatically goes into that mentality when you’re there.

I do occasionally work from my bed in my pjs (mostly if I’m not feeling very well), but I’ve noticed that when I get dressed and take my laptop/iPad into the living room, I get so much more work done!

Do your hair and makeup

I struggle with my body image quite a bit, and if I don’t like the way I look it can have a big impact on my mental health and motivation for the day. So once I’m dressed, I take a bit of time to fill in my eyebrows, add a touch of foundation or concealer and a coat or two of mascara; just enough to make me feel good about the way I look.

I’ll also make sure to brush and lightly style my hair, usually just quickly straightening the front and adding a little product to give it a lift and make it less flat.

Journal

Journalling is something I’ve really fallen in love with recently. It doesn’t have to be a beautify looking bullet journal if thats not your thing, you can just scribble down your thoughts and goals into an old notebook you have lying around.

Think about all the good things that are going on, no matter how small they might seem and the things that make you feel hopeful and positive. You can also use this as an opportunity to set achievable intentions and goals for the coming weeks or months.

Be kind to yourself

You’re not going to feel any motivation if you’re trying to force yourself to do things, especially if you aren’t in the right place mentally. Take some self care time, close your to do list and just do a small task like putting clothes away or making your bed.

Once you’ve got one small task out of the way, you’ll hopefully find it easier to move onto another small task, and then another. But if you can only manage one small task, or even none at all, remember to always be kind and understanding towards yourself; we’re our own biggest critics and worse enemies at times.

What do you do to help give yourself a motivation boost?

Get access to the exclusive free resource library of eBooks, checklists, presets and more!

very true about getting out of bed straight away and also getting ready. I normally get really down when I know I have got to do uni work ans something that makes me feel refreshed and ready to write stupid essays is getting dresses, washing my face, tidying my work area and brushing my hair, it is crazy how much these little things we don’t do when we are feeling down, but they help so much, great post xx

I definitely agree with all of these things! Sitting through scrolling in the morning makes me feel much more tired in the long run. Even though I’m unable to work at the moment, I still try and get up, get showered and get dressed every day unless I’m having a REALLY horrendous day as it really does make me feel more motivated, productive and better in general.
It really is the little things that help the most on the worst days!
Alice Xxhttp://Www.blacktulipbeauty.co.uk

Your blog is your work hun, please don’t think otherwise – I used to feel so crap that I can’t work because of my mental health but then I realised that my blog is a job and I work hard on that; you do too! ☺️

Im glad that it really helps you feel more motivated, the little things really do make a big difference!xx

First time reader here: you gave some great advice! I struggle with mental health, anxiety mainly, and I try to do these things as well! Being kind to yourself is huge b/c mental illness will harm you and having the ability to combat it through self-compassion or kindness is amazing! keep on doing these things and I can’t wait to read more from you 🙂

This is such a great post Jade and I definitely agree with everything here. I study from home and can really struggle with self-motivation at times. I tend to check my phone first thing which always slows me down. I need to get in the habit of getting dressed first. Journalling is such a great activity and a really effective way to clear your mind and put things into perspective. Thank you for sharing lovely <3 xx

Thank you Bexa! Yeah checking your phone is the worst in a lot of ways, it just sucks you in and I can easily loose hours just scrolling through Twitter and Instagram. I’ve only recently got into journaling but I’m really enjoying it – it’s so therapeutic! 🖤 xx

Hello and welcome, I’m so glad you’ve found my blog! ☺️ Thank you for your lovely comment, being kind to yourself is definitely a big part of looking after yourself; but something I think we all struggle with! I hope you like some of my other content, I have a whole section on anxiety and you might find something helpful/interesting there ☺️

I appreciate this so much! I struggle with lack of motivation constantly! Today is the first day I’ve been remotely productive this week! What I do is make sure i get enough sleep and focus on building someone else up…it helps me when I don’t focus on how “bored” or “unproductive” i am. Then I’ll do something tiny that helps me feel like I did something and as you mentioned, it does tend to snowball into a better feeling and day! Thank you for putting everything here…I’ll take advantage of them and maybe it will help manage my depression.

This is such a good post! Great tips! I literally always check my phone before I get out of bed and I end up taking forever to get up and get ready for the day. I work from home so that quiet time in the morning (before the kids wake up) could be spent doing something much more predictive. Thanks for the tip!

This is such a lovely post. My morning routine now consists of me getting up around 6am, going for a walk in the fresh air, and then doing a workout. I try and not touch my phone for a couple of hours as I find I’m so unproductive otherwise! I have so many days where all I want to do is lie in bed and waste the day away, but these tips are something I try and implement into my daily life to get me out of a rut. Loved this post, self-care and our mental health are things we really need to prioritise, thanks for sharing! x

This was beautiful! And I can relate to all of these tips. I think journaling has changed my life lol it has contributed to me being aware of how I feel and respecting myself, setting boundaries and maintaining my standards! Thank you for sharing!

Love these tips, I’m in such a rut when it comes to checking my phone first thing in the morning so will definitely start getting out of bed and making my breakfast first before I decide to pick up my phone.

These are some really great tips, although I dont struggle with depression I do sometimes struggle with motivation and getting up and getting dressed makes a huge difference. I am far less apt to get anything done if I stick to my pjs. I have also found I am far more productive if I go for my run early in the morning or just move around, exercise seems to perk me up a good bit when i’am feeling unmotivated.

They will! I’ve already forgotten what you said, so I’ll have to refresh my memory haha. Thank you for the compliment! I rewarded myself and I will once I get a major bit of my plans complete this week. Major home reorganization and donation drive on the books this month!

That sounds like a great morning routine! I wish I could go for a walk in the mornings; I live in the countryside but I don’t like to walk around on my own after an incident that happened when I was younger 🙁 I’m glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂 x

A relatable and realistic post. I also will get dressed, make myself look nice to get myself going. Getting stuck in bed scrolling through my phone is a bad habit of mine so I might try your tip around this! Xx

I love this post – it is exactly what I need when I’m having a low day. Simple things – just get up and get dressed! I am so bad at always looking at my phone first thing, that’s a really good suggestion. Just found your blog via Blogging Buddies and I’m loving all your posts already <3 Can't wait to read more!

Getting out of bed is a big one for me. Once I get up and moving, I can convince myself to do so much more, but if I allow myself to chill in bed the time gets away from me.
Britt | http://alternativelyspeaking.ca

Aw this is nice… As soon as I saw the title I was like “OMG YES finally.” I feel like lots of parts about depression and anxiety are addressed but rarely the severe lack of motivation that comes with it. My depression can make me sad but mostly, it drains me of any will to do much with my life. If that makes sense. I used to always think I was lazy but I think it’s a mix of that and depression. Thanks for sharing 🙂

You’re definitely not lazy lovely, it’s one of the most common side effects unfortunately 😔 I agree that it isn’t spoken about enough, everyone always talks about the sadness like it’s the only side effect when there are quite a few others – plus everyone struggles with it differently so no two people are the same! I’m glad you enjoyed the post ☺️

Search + Enter

This site uses cookies; unfortunately they don't taste very nice but they are necessary! By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, head on over here:
Cookie Policy

Free Resources

HI THERE!

Thanks for stopping by! I’m a twenty-five-year-old digital media graduate with a passion for writing and a desire to change the way we view mental health and autism. I’ve owned jademarie.co.uk for nearly two years now, and its slowly changed from a place where I would brain dump whatever was going through my head that day, into a place where people can come for help, advice and hopefully a bit of a laugh. I do occasionally come out with a witty sentence or two. Mostly by accident.